That Night On Hoth
by Jadewing47
Summary: As Han watches over Luke that night they were lost on Hoth, except Luke has more injures and has bad hypothermia. Han cares for Luke and lets him snuggle. Han goes all big brother on Luke.
1. Chapter 1

"Then I'll see you in hell!"

Those words echoed through my head as the Tauntaun I was riding ran through the icy wastelands of Hoth. A couple times I would pull out my scanner.

No readings.

Many times I called the kid's name,

no answer.

By now the Tauntaun was wheezing, so I pulled it to a stop so it could catch it's breath. While parked, I again pulled out my scanner, scraping the snow off of the screen. I looked at it warily as it tested the area, expecting nothing. The scanner read, FAINT LIFE-READINGS AHEAD-2 MILES

 _Faint life-readings ahead,_

 _Faint life-readings ahead,_

 _Faint life-readings ahead,_

The words pulsed through my veins and I suddenly felt hope. Hope that I would find the kid, my friend.

 _Han old-buddy do you read me?_

I had never had a friend before. Except for Chewie. But Chewie was there because he thought he owed me a life debt, a debt I had tried to release him from for years now, and failed. Sure Chewie was good company, and I did care for him. But I never had a human friend. A friend I could really talk to, really care about.

 _Han old-buddy do you read me?_

Luke had called me 'old-buddy'. I don't know why that really made me happy, but beneath the hard-core exterior of Han Solo, the real Han Solo needed a friend. I had always known Luke as, 'The kid' but he was more than that. He was my friend, he was my brother.

I pushed the Tauntaun at full speed. It was moaning in pain. I felt bad, but the only one on my mind was Luke. As I neared a large mountain of ice, I saw a figure on the ground. I pulled the Tauntaun to a stop and ran toward the figure. It was reaching toward me, then it collapsed onto the ground.

"Luke!" I cried.


	2. Chapter 2

"No don't do this kid!" Han murmured, dropping too his knees next to Luke's face. He pulled Luke's body around so he was laying on his back.

"Come on kid! Give me a sign here." Luke moaned, and Han let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Come on kid. We'll take you back to the base and dump you into some bacta and you'll be good as new!" Han said with enough cheerfulness as he could muster.

The Tauntaun howled, and as Han looked up, it gave an antagonized cry before dropping dead to the ground.

"Crap." Han muttered.

He eyed the light saber attached to Luke's belt. As gently as he could, Han dragged the limp body of his friend over to where the Tauntaun lay dead. He needed to work quickly, before the Tauntauns corpse froze. Pressing the activation switch on Luke's lightsaber, Han cut through the Tauntauns belly and cleared out the insides, gently putting Luke inside the skin.

"I know it smells kid, but it will keep you warm." Han muttered, leaning on the Tauntaun, swiping at his nose before realizing that was terrible idea.

"Ugh. And I thought...they smelled bad...on the outside. Ugh."

Han gathered the emergency survival pack and began to set up the thermal tent.


	3. Chapter 3

It only took Han a good 25 minutes to set up the tent. He then hurried back to the gutted Tauntan and scooped Luke up into his arms, carrying him into the tent. He laid Luke down on a thermal pad, grabbing the thermal blanket and wrapping Luke up in it. He then turned on the heat lamp, and the regular lamp, breaking out the boxes of emergency equipment. He grabbed a stim-pill, and swallowed it down quickly, wanting to stay awake to watch over Luke.

Stim-pills didn't always work.

Han woke up 30 minutes later. He groaned it hadn't even been 1 hour! It was the Winter months in Hoth now too, meaning the night hours often lasted more than 16 hours, and the snowstorms were hard. Han quietly crawled over to Luke, examining his injuries. His face was torn up, the gashes wide and deep. Any blood that had once been trying to escape was frozen on Luke's face. Han frowned, realizing that the helmet like rebel hat Luke was wearing was digging into the gashes, probably making them more painful even though Luke was unconscious.

With a gentleness that amazed the smuggler, Han slowly pulled the hat off of Luke's head. Luke moaned, twitching in his 'sleep'.

"Sorry buddy." Han murmured, gently brushing Luke's hair out of his face so Han could take a better look at the gashes. Han frowned at what he felt. He put his hand on Luke's forehead. Even with his gloves on, Han could feel the icy chill of the boy's skin.

"I'm no doctor Luke, but I don't like that you're so cold." Luke was laying on the thermal pad and wrapped up in a thermal blanket and only seaming to get colder. An icy feeling of dread pulled at Han's stomach. He hoped Luke didn't have what Han thought he had. Han sighed,

"Kid, you sure do know how to get me into messes."

"Come on buddy. I feel like a crazy person talking to myself like this. Wake up. You're scaring me kid."

Luke didn't respond, but Han could pick up the struggle in his breath.

The icy feeling of fear settled deeper.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke could feel pain, heavy, heavy pain. There was a searing ripple of it every time he tried to take a breath. He was laying on his back, on something soft, he knew that much. Memories of the Wampa attacking brought panic to his brain, causing his eyes to shoot open. Black smudges of nothing was all he could see. He tried to bring his hand up to rub his eyes. _Maybe there was something in them?_ He couldn't move his arm, he was so cold, and something was weighing it down. Scared, Luke began to struggle weakly, trying to free himself from whatever was attacking him. The pressure in his chest began to get heavier, just as hands grabbed his shoulders from behind, trying to stop him from escaping.

"No!" Luke yelled.

Han's head shot up, hearing movement. His eyes traveled to the kid, who was thrashing around, struggling against the blankets wrapped around him as if they were attacking him.

"Luke!" Han cried, alarm setting through him. The kid was hurting himself. Luke's eyes were wide open, he looked terrified.

"Luke!" Han yelled, crawling over and grabbing Luke by his shoulders.

"No!" Luke screamed, then he began to choke. He was coughing, gasping for breath, making small choking noises.

"Breathe kid, breathe!" Han commanded, his voice was panicked, though not as much as Luke was. Luke was fighting, trying desperately to get air into his lungs. He was coughing, and it didn't sound good.

"Breathe kid!" Luke's face, if possible, was growing an even darker shade of blue and purple. Every time the kid tried to take a breath, he would cough and choke. Luke was suffocating himself through panic.

"Luke! Luke listen to me kid. Come on , Listen to me, focus on my voice. Luke. Luke, shhh. Shhhhh, everythings going to be ok. You need to breathe. Easy. It's ok. Breathe Luke. I'm here, you're safe now. Easy kid. Breathe."

Luke managed to take a short breath, then another, and another.

"There you go." Han murmured encouragingly.

"Han?" Luke whispered, coughing.

"Easy kid. I'm right here." Ham murmured, taking Luke's hand into his own while still holding his shoulders.

The kids breathing hitched up again, and he had another coughing fit.

"It's ok kid. Easy there. You're ok." Luke shook his head, wincing from the pain.

"Can't...I-I can't. [cough, cough], I can't [cough], see Han. [cough]." Luke murmured blinking as he tried to rub his eyes.

Han sighed. He knew it. "Kid ya got hypothermia. Like not the regular kind, the bad kind. That's why you can't see." Luke closed his eyes in defeat, tears leaking out of the corner of his eyes.

"Hey kid." Han murmured, gently lowering Luke so his head was on Han's lap.

"You're ok. You're ok. I'm here. I'm not going to let anything happen to ya." Han murmured, taking the blanket and again wrapping it around Luke's shoulders. Exhausted, Luke's eyes closed and he fell into what Han hoped was sleep.


End file.
